 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Berry v. City of Bossier City9/8/2005
ted toward his certification ranking. He said that had he known this, he would have taken the test more than once. Like McGee, he said that while preforming the agility test he was told by the white training staff to take his time and not make mistakes which would eliminate him from passing the test.
A hearing was held on October 7, 2004. The defendants presented excerpts from McGee's and Lacoure's depositions. As to Lacoure, the defendants asserted that the only issues not affirmatively negated by Lacoure's deposition testimony were hostile work environment and certification discrimination. (Counsel for the plaintiffs made no objection as to summary judgment for Lacoure as to hiring, training, promotion, discipline and retaliation.) According to the defendants, the grounds of Lacoure's claim of a hostile work environment were a Tiger Woods joke and a comment about O.J. Simpson. Lacoure also contended that he and a white firefighter had exchanged banter wherein each called the other racial names. The defendants argued that these incidents were not indicative of a "severe and pervasive" hostile workplace and that Lacoure conceded in his deposition that it did not affect his work. As to certification, Lacoure was unable to give any basis in his deposition for suggesting that certification was based on race. In his subsequent affidavit, he asserted that he would have done better on his certification had he been informed that the agility test times and the civil service exam scores would be used for certification. However, affidavits submitted by the defendants from the training officer and the chief stated that everyone was told the exact same thing about the test. The defendants also contend that the person who performed best on the agility test was another black firefighter who is also a plaintiff in the instant suit. In contravention, Lacoure stated in his affidavit that he was told to slow down by the white firefighters administering the test and that he was not told that the agility test would count toward his certification.
Finding that the language complained of between Lacoure and the white firefighter might be considered "severe and pervasive" depending upon the particular circumstances surrounding their utterances, the court denied summary judgment on the hostile workplace issue. Likewise, the court declined to grant summary judgment on the certification issue, finding that the allegations were such as to allow Lacoure his day in court. The trial court granted summary judgment as to Lacoure in favor of Faith, Hall, Halphen and Shanks as individuals. It also granted summary judgment dismissing Mrs. Lacoure's claims.
As to McGee, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Faith, Hall, Halphen and Shanks as individuals. On the issue of certification, the same arguments were presented on McGee's behalf as had been for Lacoure. As to promotion, McGee alleged that he was not given a chance to "drive out of class," or to be moved up in class to the status of driver for a shift when a replacement driver was unavailable, even though he had seniority over other firefighters who were allowed to do so. He alleged retaliation in that, after allegations of discrimination surfaced in the media, he was required to do extra unscheduled cleaning and chores. The defendants argued that the scheduling on the driving issue is "merely fortuitous" and did not involve discrimination. They also cited McGee's deposition testimony that he did not feel that he had been retaliated against personally and that he had no facts to suggest "any type of race-based retaliation" against him. McGee contended that his affidavit and answers to interrogatories -- which set forth different responses than his dep
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Louisiana Employee Leasing Services
Employee Leasing Services
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|